Day 5, morning (some of these photos are stolen from previous trips as well, I didn't take my camera out as early as I thought... )
New Years Eve started out bright and early for us. The forecast called for this to be the warmest day of the week, and we were really excited to finally have some nice weather.
The whole group made it to the bus stop a little bit before 7:00, and very shortly we were off to
Hollywood Studios!
We were at DHS and through bag check by 7:15am, and were 2nd in line at the turnstile. The CMs started letting us in at about 7:40, and as always, I took all the tickets and began to maneuver through the crowd to get up to the actual rope and begin the trek to TSM. I made it up to the rope quickly, and DH & the family were pretty close behind. The rope dropped at exactly 8:00, and we were herded like cattle towards
Pixar Place.
I hopped in the FP line, while DH & the family made their way to the entrance to the standby line. They opted to wait for me outside the queue, because a CM was telling people not to get in line without their whole group. I believe our FP return was around 10am! I caught up, and we got in the standby line
where we soon encountered the rudest guests weve ever come across on a WDW trip. As we approached the entrance into the building, another family waved us ahead of them they were waiting for their FP runners to catch up. Mom, MIL, BIL, and I went past them, and as dad & DH were trying to pass, their FP runner caught up and they jumped in front of dad & DH. Dad politely asked them to move out of the way so that he could catch up with his wife in the
ECV, and the FP runner was incredibly rude, telling my dad that your family can just stop and wait for you, like my family stopped to wait for me. My dad was pretty upset, since we'd actually gotten in the line as a group, but he held his tongue (which he almost never does - must be the Disney magic!) and just continued behind this group. Of course, we had to stop and let their group of 12+ in front of us. (Thanks to the ECV/wheelchair access line, we still ended up on the ride before them
this made me very happy for some reason, LOL). TSM is one of my favorite rides, and one of only 3 or 4 things that I actually enjoy at DHS, so of course we had a great time. DH beat my score on this trip through.
After TSM, we decided to get some breakfast, so we headed to Starring Rolls. I dont remember what everyone ordered, but everyone was happy with breakfast. We sat there for a bit, eating and talking, until our FP window reopened and I could go get FPs for Rockin Rollercoaster. I headed down Sunset Blvd. about 10 minutes early. According to my Twitter feed, I got RnRC FPs at 9:12am with a return time for 1:00pm, and the standby waits at RnRC & Tower of Terror were both 75 minutes!
After returning to the group, we decided to use the FPs for Lights, Motors, Action! that were being given out that morning, so we headed back to the stadium. MIL & BIL stopped to watch the HSM show, and almost didnt find us when they got to the LMA! stadium we were up in the handicapped-accessible seating, which was a great place to sit, and I got some good pictures. We enjoy this show, but we don't feel the need to do see it very often.
The show lasts about 30 minutes, so we were out of the stadium by 11:00 or so. Our FPs for TSM were valid, so we decided to head back over there and ride again. I believe my dad headed back to SSR for a nap after LMA. On our way back to Pixar Place, we noticed that Great Movie Ride had a 5 minute wait posted, and MIL wanted to ride, so we hopped in line. We saw this guy outside - DH's favorite!
Soon, we were on the Great Movie Ride.
We had the gangster. Ive only ever had the gangster on GMR. Maybe someday Ill get the cowboy. I only really enjoy this ride in the heat of the summer it needs a bit of updating I think.
We made it back to TSM a bit before noon FPs were gone for the day, and the standby line was at 120 minutes. I rode with mom this time, and beat her soundly
DH rode with his brother, and MIL rode by herself.
After getting off TSM, I ran down Sunset Blvd to get FPs for ToT the return time was 4:00pm. Standby was at 110 minutes on both ToT and RnRC at this point. I grabbed a pretzel on my way back to the group, and found that DH had purchased the two pins we wanted while I was away.
I believe the next thing we did was the Backlot Tour. I would have skipped it, but mom & MIL both wanted to ride it. This is another one that really needs some updating, especially since DHS is no longer an active movie studio.
DHS is really my least-favorite park, because its just so difficult to get from one place to another. All the other parks seem fairly connected and well planned, but DHS is just
odd in its layout, and always results in so much walking. After the Backlot Tour, we headed back over to RnRC to use our FPs. Mom sat this one out I dont think I had even gotten her a FP because I knew she wouldnt ride
or maybe we gave her FP away. I dont really remember. I absolutely love RnRC, and this was about the point that BIL finally started to act like he was enjoying himself hes a thrill-ride junkie, and there arent a whole lot of thrill rides at WDW.
By the time we finished, we were getting pretty hungry, so we stopped on Sunset Blvd for lunch. DH got BBQ, mom & I got pizza, MIL had a salad, and BIL had a burger. It was all OK, but none of it was great. Thats another thing I dont like at DHS the CS food options just arent great.
After lunch, we headed to the Animation Studio. I really wanted to do the Animation Academy DH & I drew Goofy on our anniversary trip and really enjoyed it and mom & MIL wanted to do the whole tour. This also needs updating Im tired of Mushus life story and its just not as interesting with no real production going on. (The very first trip I took as an adult, they were still doing animation at the Florida studio, and I was able to watch the animators as they worked on Lilo & Stitch. I was so disappointed on the first trip DH & I took together when we realized that you could no longer actually see the animators at work.) We did enjoy seeing the production cells for The Princess & the Frog, though. We made it through and, surprise surprise, no one else wanted to wait for the Animation Academy, so we skipped it and headed to ToT to use our FPs. Mom sat this one out, too, but the rest of us enjoyed our trip into the Twilight Zone.
At this point, it was around 4:00, and since we knew we had a late night ahead of us, we decided to head back to SSR to rest. Several CMs warned us on our way out that we shouldnt leave, as all parks (except AK) were at capacity, and it was likely we wouldnt be able to get into any of the parks later that evening, but we knew we had to get some rest, so back to SSR we went.
Up next: Where do we go for dinner? (Hint: Ive got hilarious photos & possibly video from this meal) Do we make it back to DHS to see the Osborne Lights? And most importantly, where do we end up for the big NYE celebration?
and thanks for joining in! More coming soon!
I'm glad you're enjoying the report... I'm hoping to get another update up tonight or tomorrow, just waiting on DH to get some videos uploaded.
I think DH got all of the video uploaded to his YouTube channel tonight, which means he'll link it to his blog tomorrow... so I should be able to get the next update up tomorrow night. It's already written, just waiting for the video to be ready to go! 
I don't understand people sometimes. And the people that moved the cones...obviously oblivious.
You WERE at DHS----
I watched your video, but couldn't always hear the music. Could you hear it where you were? 
After experiencing Disney during this busy, crazy time, I am convinced that some people just get exhausted/stressed and behave in a rude way. We didn't experience any problems when we left the park. We wound up staying until about 2:30, then caught the boat back to Yacht Club. 
